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RSS denies hiring law firm to lobby for it in America
RSS denied hiring a US lobbying firm after reports emerged of Squire Patton Boggs being paid $330,000 for introducing them to US officials.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Thursday denied hiring a lobbying firm in the US, after a report in non-profit news website Prism said that it had indirectly hired one.
“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in United States of America,” RSS leader Sunil Ambekar posted on X.
To be sure, lobbying disclosure statements reviewed independently by Hindustan Times reveal that Squire Patton Boggs was paid $330,000 this year by One+ Advisers, another lobbying firm, on behalf of the RSS. The firm was contracted to “introduce the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” to US officials.
One+ Advisers and Squire Patton Boggs were yet to respond to HT’s request for a comment.
Elite law firm Squire Patton Boggs also lobbies for Pakistan.
To be sure, while the documents mention the client as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, it is not clear who hired the lobbying firm.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh reacted to the report and claimed “this is not the first time that the RSS.... has betrayed national interest.”
The lobbying firms listed above have not registered as foreign agents working on behalf of the RSS under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Instead, the disclosures have been made under the Lobbying Disclosures Act (LDA) of 1995. Squire Patton Boggs also signed a contract to lobby on behalf of the government of Pakistan in April this year.
Pennsylvania-based One+ Strategies is a lobbying and public affairs firm that lists government relations, public affairs and advocacy as well as crisis communications among its key services.
“The professionals at One+ Strategies represent a diverse list of small and large businesses, trade associations, and nonprofits. We help them navigate government and solve their challenges using our unmatched relationships and communication skills,” the firm’s website reads.
Four individuals have been listed as lobbyists under the contract signed with Squire Patton Boggs according to the disclosure statement. Among them is Bill Shuster, a former Republican Congressman who served in the US House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019. Others include Rebekah Sungala, a former aide to Shuster, SPB associate Bradford Ellison and SPB partner Ludmilla Kasulke. The Prism report says some of them were guests at a RSS event in Nagpur in June. The Prism report also cited an article in RSS publication Organiser that referred to the visit, but did not identify the SPB and One+ executives as its lobbyists.
The disclosures reveal that Squire Patton Boggs was paid $120,000 for the first quarter of 2025, $100,000 in the second quarter and $110,000 in the third quarter by One+ Strategies, which was acting on behalf of the RSS. In April this year, SPG was also hired as a subcontractor by Orchid Advisers LLC to assist the government of Pakistan in its lobbying efforts. According to the contract, SPG would be paid $125,000 a month for its legal services and assisting in outreach to US lawmakers.
Massachusetts-based individual Vivek Sharma is also listed as an “entity other than the client that contributes more than $5,000 to the lobbying activities of the registrant in a quarterly period and either participates in and/or in whole or in major part supervises or controls the registrant’s lobbying activities”.
According to the Department of Justice, exemptions to register as foreign agents under FARA do exist. Those properly registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as well as those involved in “religious, scholastic, academic, fine arts, or scientific pursuits” are among those exempted for registering as foreign agents. It is currently unclear if the lobbyists for the RSS have availed these exemptions.
